NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2007

Jury Out on School-Bus Seat Belt Bill
Costs Helped Kill Similar State Bills 7 Previously Times
January 30, 2007

"It was really unexpected," said Colon, 16.

Under a bill proposed in the state Senate this month, Colon — and every child riding on a school bus in Tennessee — would be required to wear a seat belt.

Similar bills have failed to become law at least seven times since 1990. Supporters say making seat belts mandatory on school buses is long overdue, while critics deem the measure ineffective and expensive.

5 states require bus belts

While federal law requires seat belts on small buses, those weighing less than 10,000 pounds, only five states — New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Florida and California — require lap or three-point shoulder belts on standard-size school buses.

The bill's sponsor, State Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, said he was still deciding how hard to push for passage of his bill, but wanted to keep the discussion alive.

"I think it's time that we make sure our children have the same safety to and from school as they do in mom's car to and from the supermarket," Finney said. "I believe this is an expense we need to incur."

In Metro Nashville Public Schools, retrofitting old buses with restraints would cost at least $4.5 million, said transportation director Keith Phillips. The belts would also reduce the three-person seats to just two passengers, meaning that more buses would be needed, Phillips said. Each new bus is about $74,000 and that doesn't include the cost of maintenance, fuel, insurance and hiring more drivers.

Furthermore, research on safety of seat belts on buses is inconclusive. Federal studies have shown lap belts can cause internal, neck and back injuries, and district officials note that buses' seats are already padded to absorb impact.

"We can never put a dollar figure on a child's life," Phillips said. "If I had a guarantee that I could save one child's life with a seat belt, I would recommend our school board look at it. But the study and safety records we have don't show that."

Metro runs 563 buses every day, and there have been 12 injury accidents since 2003, Phillips said. Still, he agrees seat belts could reduce behavior problems and lawsuits.

Alan Ross, president of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, said that the current bus safety measure — extra padding on the back of each seat — was old technology.

"Clearly, safety belts work," Ross said. "We buckle up in the car. The laws of physics aren't suspended just because buses are big and yellow."

Crash prompted review

Metro took a hard look at safety belts three years ago, after a bus accident left one student with serious brain injuries and the city with a lawsuit.

When a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying Dodson Elementary School students in October 2003, Marisa Rowland, then 8, went into a coma after her head struck the top of the seat in front of her. Marisa, now 10, has memory and comprehension problems and needs a full-time aide.

"Her life has changed pretty drastically," said her father, Lonnie Rowland.

Rowland said he believed a seat belt would have lessened his daughter's injuries.

"We wonder sometimes, if this had happened to one of the representative's families, how much more important it might be," Rowland said.

Diego Martinez, 9, a student at Gower Elementary School in Bellevue, said he felt safe on the bus without a seat belt.

His mother, Flavia Martinez, said she had never worried about her son's safety on the big buses. "The truth is, they're fine," Martinez said. "I don't think they need seat belts. The bus drivers are really good."

Colon, the high school student involved in the September bus crash, isn't sure whether a seat belt would have prevented his injury. Then again, he's not sure that he and his classmates would have been wearing them anyway.

"I think most kids don't worry about what's going to happen," Colon said.

By KATE HOWARD

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